Bring Her Back

Some movies just stab you with a knife and twist it in your guts. Bring Her Back is exactly one of those, leaving me torn. Short reviews are my go-to, but this movie has me so giddy that I had to whip something in docs. Seriously, I came in expecting bloody horror instead it brought me a dam to my eyes—just like it did with Talk to Me. I guess that’s the whole point? The Philippou brothers have my heart and I’m forever grateful that I get to watch movies as phenomenal as this. I’m still bummed by the fact that I didn’t get to watch this on the big screen, but I make do with my pirated site, dark room, and cozy socks. It starts off with an intriguing premise, a blind girl and her stepbrother. It’s not something you typically see (I love representations like these), but you, the audience can already tell that there are so many ways it could go wrong. The movie then hits you with a sudden blow... their father dies, and both siblings being under the age of 18 are put up for foster care. Later, a tender moment between the siblings sets the tone for their relationship—Andy and Piper lying down under a bed, sharing a conversation. They clearly love each other and you can tell by the way they spoke that they truly cared for one another. A sweet moment before Laura, their foster mom was introduced. Now this early loss isn’t just plot, it frames personal grief which becomes crucial later on. They didn't know what was coming next. Grief is messy and irrational; it’s something deeply personal. More often than not, people express it in a way that’s difficult to grasp for someone who has never experienced it—and so is trauma. It can’t or almost never will be conveyed in a “healthy” way. Grief and trauma sometimes leads you to doing stupid shit, in some cases to an outrageous extent, especially when it’s tied to the very thing giving you comfort. Laura is a grieving mother trying to regain what she lost. Not in any way justifying her actions. Laura’s flaws and insufferability is necessary, it’s what keeps the story compelling. Her desperation, while frustrating also highlights how—whether you call this “manipulative trauma porn” or not, you can agree that it reflects how far some people go for their loved ones. Bring Her Back is just something simply real and valid. With a depressing, atmospheric wide shot, Laura’s arms wrap around Cathy’s while floating in the pool, and it dawns on you how much she loved her—my favorite scene, my idea of a perfect ending. A tragic and poetic way to end the movie; an absolute tearjerker. This scene reminded me of Barbarian, both movies exploring how deep a mother’s love goes and how twisted it can be. Although not being a parent myself, I feel heavy sentiment toward parents doing everything just to have their child back in their arms. I feel the same too, maybe because I’ve lost the same opportunity to grasp my own mother’s arms and tell her how much I loved her. Oops, that’s Talk to Me now :p Seriously, it’s a feeling that I believe will never go away and it's why Laura and Mia (Talk to Me), despite them being some of the most selfish and insufferable characters (at times), are my favorite characters—because a part of me is able to relate, yikes. Or perhaps because I’m just as desperate as them when it comes to holding onto someone I love. The only horror in this film is the emotions it’ll provoke. It’s not particularly scary; it’s much more of a movie that isn’t conventionally regarded as “good,” yet it flirts with the idea of whether bringing someone back is an act of love or selfishness. And I like that, I like that a lot. Movies that leave me in emotional wreckage are just my type, though I understand many people just can’t relate as much as some of us do, and that’s okay. The acting is phenomenal across the entire cast, each performance gripping and keeping my eyes glued, especially Sally Hawkin’s. I felt myself getting annoyed and cringing from some scenes that I had to pause it, oops. By the end the credits rolled, I couldn’t keep my mind from thinking about the movie and what I could say about it. I also noticed how the brothers really have a thing for imitating/imitations in movies to fool characters. I guess it’s almost like their signature, and I love that. Overall a fun movie to watch, a little grotesque but that’s its charm!